the American people. This is a Christian people. These amendments
agree with the faith, the feelings, and the forms of every Christian
church or sect. The Catholic and the Protestant, the Unitarian and
the Trinitarian, profess and approve all that is here proposed. Why
should their wishes not become law? Why should not the Constitution
be made to suit and to represent a constituency so overwhelmingly in
the majority?... This great majority is becoming daily more conscious
not only of their rights but of their power. Their number grows, and
their column becomes more solid. They have quietly, steadily opposed
infidelity, until it has, at least, become politically unpopular. They
have asserted the rights of man and the rights of the government,
until the nation’s faith has become measurably fixed and declared on
these points. And now that the close of the war gives us occasion to
amend our Constitution, that it may clearly and fully represent the
mind of the people on these points, they feel that it should also be
so amended as to recognize the rights of God in man and in government.
Is it anything but due to their long patience that they be at length
allowed to speak out the great facts and principles which give to all
government its dignity, stability, and beneficence?”
We offer these extracts simply to show the tendency of the popular
agitation on this subject. It indicates what is in the hearts of
leading ones in the popular churches, and what they are waiting to do,
as soon as they shall have the power. It is corroborative evidence that
the application we make of the two-horned beast, and the image, is
correct.
3. The mark and worship of the beast. The two-horned beast causes men
to worship the first beast and receive his mark. The worship and mark
are alike enforced by the two-horned beast. It is this worship and
mark against which the third angel warns us. It becomes, therefore, a
matter of solemn moment to inquire what is meant by these expressions,
since the message levels against these things, whatever they are, a
denunciation more terrific than any other threatening that can be found
in the word of God. The sin must be one which is most presumptuous and
Heaven-daring. What is it? Many are ready to assert that we never can
know, and accuse us of prying into secret things, when we raise the
question. But is this possible? If we cannot know what the mark and
worship are, we are liable to receive the one, and perform the other,
without knowing it. We then become subject to the terrible punishment
threatened. But would God ever punish a person thus for sins which he
did not know he was committing? Never. It would be contrary to the
principles on which he has thus far dealt with mankind, and contrary to
the justice of his own nature. And a special message, that of the third
angel, is sent out to warn men, not against something they are never to
know anything about, but against a plain and open act of disloyalty to
God, which the two-horned beast is to require of them, and to which if
they yield, they must drink of the unmingled wrath of God. We return to
the inquiry, What is the mark of the beast?
The beast, as we have seen, is the Papacy. The two-horned beast which
is to enforce the mark is our own government. What is the mark of the
Papacy which this nation is to enforce? It must be something on which
they occupy common ground, and in which both are equally interested.
The mark of any power must be something to distinguish the adherents
of that power. This none can dispute. And that which distinguishes the
adherents of any power, must be some law, requirement, or institution
of that power. It can be nothing else. The mark of the beast, then,
must be some requirement, of course of a religious nature, which the
Papacy has instituted, and to which it claims obedience from its
followers, as a token of its right to legislate in religious matters.
This is an unavoidable conclusion from the foregoing principles, which
must be admitted as sound.
Again, the beast has been shown to be identical with the little horn of
Dan. vii, and of that power it is said that he should “think to change
times and laws.” What laws are these which the Papacy should think to
change, but not have power to change? It must be divine laws, the laws
of God; for all human laws may be changed by earthly powers. This power
is again brought to view under the title of the “Man of Sin;” 2 Thess.
ii, 3; and of him it is said that he “exalteth himself above all that
is called God.” How could he do this? There is one way, and only one,
in which it could be done, and that is, to change the law of God by
putting in place of some of its requirements an enactment of his own,
and demanding obedience to that change, to the violation of the law of
God.
In all these testimonies, the evidence tends with wonderful harmony
to one conclusion, namely, that the Papacy was to promulgate some
religious enactment, which would involve a change of the law of
God, and obedience to which would stand as an acknowledgment of its
supremacy in religious things. If we can find a Papal enactment of
such a nature, this surely must be the mark of the beast. It may now
facilitate our investigations of this subject to appeal directly to the
Romish church for information. Among its claims and institutions do we
find anything of this kind? We do; and it may surprise some Protestants
to learn that it is the institution of Sunday in place of the Sabbath
of the fourth commandment. Hear what that church claims on the subject
of the change of the Sabbath:
“_Q._ Have you any other way of proving that the _Church has power_ to
institute festivals of precept?
“_A._ Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all
modern religionists agree with her;--she could not have _substituted
the observance of Sunday_, the first day of the week, for the
observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no
scriptural authority.”--_Doct. Catechism._
“_Q._ How prove you that the church _hath power_ to command feasts and
holy days?
“_A._ _By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday_, which
Protestants allow of; and, therefore, they fondly contradict
themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts
commanded by the same church.
“_Q._ How prove you that?
“_A._ Because by keeping Sunday, they _acknowledge the Church’s power_
to ordain feasts, &c.”--_Abridgment of Chris. Doc._, pp. 57-59.
These extracts are from standard Roman Catholic works, and clearly set
forth the claim of that church. When a person is charged with a crime
and confesses it, that is usually considered sufficient to settle
the matter and preclude the necessity of any further investigation.
The prophecy declared that the little horn should think to change
times and laws; and here the Papacy claims to have accomplished this
very work; and we must admit the claim or give up the prophecy as a
failure; for no other fulfillment can be shown. What need have we of
further evidence? Notice, also, how admirably this work of the Papacy
answers to all the prophecies touching it. 1. It is a change of the
law of God, such as the little horn was to accomplish; for the fourth
commandment requires the observance of the seventh day as a memorial
of creation, while this requires the observance of the first day for
another reason. 2. It is a work by which it sets itself up above God,
as the Man of Sin was to do; for it places its institution in place
of that of Jehovah, and demands obedience to it on its own authority
in preference to the requirement of God. 3. It involves on the part of
those who understandingly yield to it, that worship which the beast,
Rev. xiii, 8, was to receive from those that dwell on the earth. 4.
It is in striking contrast with the commandments of God, which those
are found keeping, Rev. xiv, 12, who refuse the mark and worship of
the beast. 5. It is claimed as a token of the authority of the church
to ordain religious institutions, just such as the mark of the beast
must be intended to show; for, in so many words, the “_very act_ of
changing the Sabbath into Sunday,” is claimed by that church as proof
of its power to command feasts and holy days; and the observance of
this institution is considered by them as an _acknowledgment_ of such
power. 6. Protestants have brought this error from the Romish church,
and though they rest it on different ground, are equally tenacious of
the institution, and equally zealous for its preservation. As above
quoted from the address of the “National Association” for amending the
Constitution, Catholic and Protestant are alike interested in this
matter; and the Protestant will, of course, be ready to join with the
Catholic in upholding that which is to him equally dear.
Here, then, we have an institution of the Papacy which admirably
answers to every specification of the prophecy, and which singularly
enough, this nation, though Protestant, is taking steps to make a
national institution, and will soon be ready to enforce by the civil
arm. For proof that Sunday-keeping has no foundation in the Scriptures,
but is an institution of the Papacy, as Romanists claim, see History of
the Sabbath, and other works, published at the Review Office.
If, then, the keeping of a counterfeit Sabbath, and one so long and
generally observed as the first day of the week, constitute the
mark of the beast, the question will doubtless arise in many minds,
if the good of past ages who have lived in the observance of this
institution, have borne the mark of the beast, and rendered worship to
that antichristian power; and if the many Christians of the present
time who are still keeping the first day, are worshiping the beast, and
wearing his mark. By those who wish to raise a blind prejudice against
the views of S. D. Adventists, we are uniformly represented as so
teaching. But it is purely a misrepresentation. We do not so teach; nor
does such a conclusion follow from our premises. It has already been
noticed that the mark and worship of the beast are both enforced by the
two-horned beast. Now, in view of this fact, there can be no worship
nor reception of the mark, such as is contemplated in the prophecy,
till it is enforced by this power. The great majority of Protestants
who have kept the first day of the week as the Sabbath, although it is
an institution of the Papacy, have not had the remotest idea that it
had any connection whatever with that false system of worship. Have
such been worshiping the beast, while they have been keeping Sunday
without a thought of that power, honestly supposing they were keeping
a Bible institution? By no means. Have they had the mark of the beast?
Not at all. The denunciation of the third message is against those who
knowingly keep Sunday as an institution of the beast. It speaks of
those who are enlightened in the matter, and of those alone. And for a
person thus enlightened, knowing what God requires and what the beast
requires, to basely yield to the requirements of the beast, to avoid
persecution, turning away in a cowardly manner from what he knows God
requires, from motives of worldly interest,--this is what makes his sin
so presumptuous and Heaven-daring in the sight of God; this is what
calls forth the terrible threatening uttered by the third angel. But
the good of past ages have not kept the day with any such understanding
of the matter, nor from any such motives.
Just so with the mass of Protestants now living. But the third message
is sent forth to warn us in reference to an issue yet future. The
people of God are coming up to translation. They must be freed from
Papal errors. The truth is to be agitated; and the antagonism between
the requirements of God and those of antichristian powers, is to be set
in a clearly-defined light before the people. The issue is to be met
understandingly, the two-horned beast demanding from its subjects the
reception of the mark, and the performance of the worship of the first
beast, on pain of death, and God commanding us to refuse the mark and
worship of the beast, and keep his commandment, on pain of drinking his
unmingled wrath. With this issue before them, those who yield to his
requirements instead of the requirements of God, will worship the beast
and receive his mark. Thus seeking to save their lives by avoiding the
wrath of earthly powers, they will lose them by becoming exposed to the
wrath of God. Till this issue is upon the people, under the enactment
of civil law, we accuse no one of worshiping the beast or receiving his
mark. And the third message is sent forth to warn men to put away their
errors and receive the truth, that they may be prepared to stand when
this fiery ordeal shall come, and, at last, having gotten the victory
over the beast, his image, his mark, and the number of his name, to
sing the victor’s song upon the sea of glass.
4. The patience of the saints. The chronology of the third message is
distinctly marked as being the period of “the patience of the saints”
which follows the proclamation of the two former messages. “Here is the
patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of
God, and the faith of Jesus.” Verse 12. And this period of the saints’
patience is marked by a most important fact, namely, the keeping of the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. We have seen that the first
angel’s message refers to the solemn proclamation of the immediate
second advent, consequently the period of patience here brought to
view must be the same as that which in many scriptures is located
immediately preceding the second advent. A few texts must suffice as
examples.
“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense
of reward. For ye have need of patience; that, after ye have done the
will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and
He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall
live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure
in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of
them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Heb. x, 35-39.
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold,
the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath
long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye
also patient, stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth
nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned:
behold the Judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the
prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of
suffering affliction, and of patience.” James v, 7-10.
“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee
from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to
try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that
fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Rev. iii, 10, 11.
“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited
for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him,
we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa. xxv, 9.
5. The commandments of God. The period of the saints’ patience is
distinguished by the fact that they are keeping the commandments of
God, and the faith of Jesus. It should be distinctly noticed that the
commandments here brought to view, are not the commandments of Christ.
There maybe a certain sense in which all the precepts of the Saviour
may be called the commandments of God; that is, if viewed as proceeding
from the sovereign authority of the Father; but when the commandments
of God are spoken of in distinction from the testimony or faith of
Jesus, there is but one thing to which reference can be made, namely,
the commandments which God gave in person, the ten commandments. See
John xv, 10. “If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love;
even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”
And thus we find the law of God which he proclaimed in person referred
to in the New Testament as “the commandments of God,” or as “the
commandments.”
“And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good
but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no
murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou
shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother, and Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Matt. xix, 17-19.
“And they returned and prepared spices and ointment; and rested the
Sabbath day, according to the commandment.” Luke xxiii, 56.
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not
come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven
and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the
law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of
these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called
the least in the kingdom of Heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach
them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.” Matt.
v, 17-19.
“Honor thy father and thy mother (which is the first commandment with
promise), that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on
the earth.” Eph. vi, 2, 3.
“But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the
commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor
thy father and mother: and he that curseth father or mother, let him
die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his
mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye
made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.” Matt.
xv, 3-6.
“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not
known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law
had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Rom. vii, 7.
6. The faith of Jesus. This term is used in distinction from the
commandments of God. It does not refer to a particular degree or
kind of faith which the Saviour exercised in the performance of his
miracles; for it appears that he wrought these by the power which he
had already received from his Father. Matt. viii, 2, 3; Mark i, 40, 41;
Luke v, 23, 24. The world itself was made by him. John i. He had ample
power, therefore, to perform every miracle which he wrought. There is
but one other thing to which this term can refer, namely, the precepts
and doctrines of our Lord as recorded in the New Testament. Thus “the
faith of the gospel” (Phil. i, 27) must refer to the precepts and
doctrines of the gospel. The faith to which a multitude of the priests
were obedient (Acts vi, 7), which was resisted by Elymas the sorcerer
(Acts xiii, 8), which was committed to the apostles for the obedience
of all nations (Rom. i, 5), which Paul testifies that he had kept (2
Tim. iv, 7), and which is to be earnestly maintained, as once delivered
to the saints (Jude 3), must refer, we think, to the precepts and
doctrines of the everlasting gospel. That the faith of Jesus is used
in this sense in Rev. ii, 13, we think cannot be denied. “Thou holdest
fast my name,” says Jesus, “and hast not denied my faith.” That this
is the sense in which it is used in Rev. xiv, 12, is further evident
from the fact that it is spoken of as kept in the same manner that the
commandments of God are kept.
“Here are they that keep the commandments of God [the Father], and the
faith of Jesus” [the Son]. This excludes alike the blind Jew, who makes
his boast in the law and rejects Jesus, and also the Christian who
professes faith in Christ while he breaks the commandments of God. It
embraces Christian commandment-keepers only.
7. The penalty threatened. The fearful penalty connected with the
warning of the third angel consists of two things: 1. The wine of
the wrath of God, poured out without mixture into the cup of his
indignation. 2. The torment with fire and brimstone in the presence of
the holy angels, and of the Lamb. Let us carefully consider each in
order.
What is the wine of the wrath of God? The next chapter clearly explains
this point. “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous,
seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up
the wrath of God. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels
seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and
ever.” Rev. xv, 1, 7. It follows therefore that the wine of the wrath
of God is the seven last plagues. This fact will be further apparent
as we proceed to show that these plagues are future. That the plagues
pertain to the future, we think can be established beyond controversy.
1. The wrath of God as threatened by the third angel, is poured out in
the seven last plagues; for the first plague is inflicted on the very
class that the third angel threatens. Compare Rev. xiv, 9, 10; xvi,
1, 2. This fact proves that the plagues must be future when the third
angel’s message is given; and it also proves the identity of the wrath
of God without mixture, and the seven last plagues.
2. We have shown that the plagues, and the wrath of God without
mixture, are the same. And wrath without mixture must be wrath with
nothing else; that is, wrath without mercy. God has not yet visited
the earth with unmixed wrath; nor can he while our great High Priest
ministers in the heavenly sanctuary, and stays the wrath of God by his
intercession for sinful men. When the plagues are poured out, mercy has
given place to vengeance.
3. Hence it is that the seven angels are represented as receiving the
vials of the wrath of God, the seven last plagues, after the opening
of the temple of God in Heaven. If we turn to Rev. xi, 15-19, we
shall find that the opening of the temple in Heaven is an event that
transpires under the sounding of the seventh angel. And that account
concludes with a brief statement of the events of the seventh vial or
last plague. Now if we turn to chapter xv, 5-8, and xvi, 1-21, we shall
read an expanded view of the facts stated in chapter xi, 15-19, and
shall find that the two accounts conclude in the same manner, namely,
with the events of the last plague. These scriptures show that the
seven angels do not receive the vials of the wrath of God to pour out
upon the earth until the temple in Heaven is opened. That temple is
opened under the voice of the seventh angel. The third woe is by reason
of the voice of the seventh angel. Chap. viii, 13; ix, 12; xi, 14. The
seven plagues are poured out under the sounding of that angel, hence
the plagues are future, and constitute the third woe.
The foregoing reasons establish the fact that the plagues are future.
We see no reason why they will not be similar in character to those
poured out on Egypt, while their consequences will be far more terrific
and dreadful. May God count us worthy to escape the things coming on
the earth, and to stand before the Son of man. The seven last plagues
are poured out on the living wicked; but the second part of the
penalty affixed to the warning of the third angel, is not inflicted
until the end of the thousand years, when all the wicked are raised and
suffer it together. This part of the penalty I will now consider.
“He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the
holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their
torment ascendeth up forever and ever,” &c. The final perdition of
ungodly men, in the lake of fire, is without doubt the subject of
these awful words. That we may rightly understand this text, we call
attention to several important facts.
1. The punishment of the wicked will be inflicted upon them on this
earth; for the final conflagration of our globe is to constitute the
lake of fire in which they are rewarded, each according to his works.
“Behold the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; much more the
wicked and the sinner.” Prov. xi, 31.
“But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept
in store, reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition
of ungodly men.” 2 Pet. iii, 7.
“But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers,
and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:
which is the second death.” Rev. xxi, 8.